• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Why Is Salix Compelled to Visit a Temple? Why Doesn't He Go?

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
As some of you may know, I tend much more toward jnana yoga than bhakti yoga, but I find the occasional compulsion to visit the Welcome to The Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple of Greater Cleveland near where I live.

I have found many excuses to not go, from the one above to offending those who attend temple services and walking in at the wrong time.

I woke up again this morning with the desire to go, visited the website, looked at the schedule, and again made an excuse to vacate my plan (who wants an old white guy disrupting a puja?)

I've driven past the temple on at least 4 occasions, pulled into the parking lot once, but left without visiting it each time.

Perhaps someone might help me to understand my compulsion to visit despite my need to.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
As some of you may know, I tend much more toward jnana yoga than bhakti yoga, but I find the occasional compulsion to visit the Welcome to The Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple of Greater Cleveland near where I live.

I have found many excuses to not go, from the one above to offending those who attend temple services and walking in at the wrong time.

I woke up again this morning with the desire to go, visited the website, looked at the schedule, and again made an excuse to vacate my plan (who wants an old white guy disrupting a puja?)

I've driven past the temple on at least 4 occasions, pulled into the parking lot once, but left without visiting it each time.

Perhaps someone might help me to understand my compulsion to visit despite my need to.

That's funny. I've been there more often than you, and I'm 2000 miles away. We saw so many temples on that trip i can't really recall, but if I remember right there is a Saiva section in the far corner sort of cordoned off from the rest. I think we sat there for quite awhile.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Any thoughts on how to overcome this trepidation? Or if I even should?

That one is very Smarta, liberal, by their website, and my visit. Good starting point though, and a really easy temple to visit. We were there in the evening, entrance is clear, shoe room to the right a you enter, then you just go into the main temple, and proceeding in a clockwise direction, make the rounds to all the various shrines, which are located on the outer walls and go all around the place. (Not agamic by design, but suits the needs of every sect as you can just go sit where you're called.

Two good times to go if you're a shy guy are early morning on weekdays, or late in the evening half an hour before it closes, when there are only a few stragglers. The other option is the Sri Venkateswara temple a bit further out. You will find it more concentrated in vibes as there is one main God presiding only, and the design is agamic. 9main presiding deity is in a special house called a moolasthanam right in the middle, and only priests are allowed in there, so the energy gets more concentrated.

Personally, I don't think you should go. You should find a mosque or a fundamentalist church that no doubt will suit your needs and beliefs far more closely.
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Personally, I don't think you should go. You should find a mosque or a fundamentalist church that no doubt will suit your needs and beliefs far more closely.

Interesting. I'm not really inclined to attend any group gatherings save my compulsions above, but I'm curious as to how you came to this conclusion.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Interesting. I'm not really inclined to attend any group gatherings save my compulsions above, but I'm curious as to how you came to this conclusion.
Sarcasm is one of my fortes. Sorry about that. There is no group gathering at a Hindu temple generally. I think I spoke to one person at that temple, and the conversation was brief. You walk in, you walk around, you leave, and nobody at all notices ... 90% of the time. I often worship here, attend the morning puja, and complete it in total silence, other than the 'talking to God' bits. (Silent mouth, but not so silent mind.)
 
Last edited:

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Sarcasm is one of my fortes. Sorry about that.

No apology needed. My miss entirely.

There is no group gathering at a Hindu temple generally. I think I spoke to one person at that temple, and the conversation was brief. You walk in, you walk around, you leave, and nobody at all notices ... 90% of the time. I often worship here, attend the morning puja, and complete it in total silence, other than the 'talking to God' bits.

This is what I'm concerned about. If you drill down and look at the schedule, it's pretty well formatted.

http://www.shivavishnutemple.org/calendar/Calendar_October_2019.pdf

Hence my primary concern.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
No apology needed. My miss entirely.



This is what I'm concerned about. If you drill down and look at the schedule, it's pretty well formatted.

http://www.shivavishnutemple.org/calendar/Calendar_October_2019.pdf

Hence my primary concern.

That's the priest schedule for what they do for the Gods with regards to puja. The only word to be concerned about is 'bhajan' as somebody has to be there to lead singing, which may be 10 people or 200 people, more likely 10. All the other stuff like abhishekham, archanas, etc, are names of rituals that the priests are doing and to which God. Priests rarely interact with devotees at all, ad that's not their job. Their job is to beseech the Gods. Because they have so many deities, they need to have a detailed schedule so that Hanuman devotees, for example can attend when Hanuman is being worshipped. if they wish.

Another component to a Hindu temple that might interest you is the quiet corners where meditation is easier than anywhere else in life. But of course, it's not for everyone. There are other paths.

For the record, I'd be going to the 10 AM Siva Abhishekahm on Monday mornings. Few people because it's a work day, and it's a lingam enshrined there which represents Absolute Reality, about the most non-dual representation one can get. You could well be the only person in attendance, which is always cool. If God does 'something' you know He's talking to you.

(Pujas always go on with or without people.)
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
I felt so awkward the first time I was alone for an abhishekam. Fortunately I knew that the priest was doing it regardless of who was there, or not. But that awkward feeling paled in comparison to just me and two priests singing the aarti song. And I didn’t know it that well then.
 

ajay0

Well-Known Member
As some of you may know, I tend much more toward jnana yoga than bhakti yoga, but I find the occasional compulsion to visit the Welcome to The Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple of Greater Cleveland near where I live.

I have found many excuses to not go, from the one above to offending those who attend temple services and walking in at the wrong time.

I woke up again this morning with the desire to go, visited the website, looked at the schedule, and again made an excuse to vacate my plan (who wants an old white guy disrupting a puja?)

I've driven past the temple on at least 4 occasions, pulled into the parking lot once, but left without visiting it each time.

Perhaps someone might help me to understand my compulsion to visit despite my need to.

It could be past life karmic impressions or influences. People usually transition to jnana yoga from bhakti yoga which is relatively easier.

Sharda Devi, consort of Sri Ramakrishna, was once visiting a region in India with dilapidated ruins of an ancient town with structures and temples. There were a couple of foreign tourists visiting and viewing the ruins as well.

Sharda Devi remarked then to her disciples that the same people who built this town back then were now visiting it as foreign tourists.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
It could be past life karmic impressions or influences. People usually transition to jnana yoga from bhakti yoga which is relatively easier.

Sharda Devi, consort of Sri Ramakrishna, was once visiting a region in India with dilapidated ruins of an ancient town with structures and temples. There were a couple of foreign tourists visiting and viewing the ruins as well.

Sharda Devi remarked then to her disciples that the same people who built this town back then were now visiting it as foreign tourists.
On pilgrimage, I most certainly felt a sense of deja-vu from a past life or two. There are tons of eastern souls in western bodies.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I've driven past the temple on at least 4 occasions, pulled into the parking lot once, but left without visiting it each time.
Why are you resisting that urge? I would prefer that you go on a weekday in the morning. No need to talk to the priest or anyone else. If anyone questions, give your straight replies, I do not think anyone will, except some curious person or child. Just sit there for some time, see what people are doing. Place a few flowers at the feet of the deities even if you may not have any chosen deity.

Go there, and as people would say, 'be done with it'. Perhaps 'jnana' awaits you there. I keep away from crowds. I went to Badrinath and Nathdwara temples, but gave the deities a miss because it was crowded. One can talk to the deities from outside the temple too. It is not expected that all people will join group gatherings, except for the 'arti', where there may be many people but each is separately with the deity (in his/her own way).
Personally, I don't think you should go. You should find a mosque or a fundamentalist church that no doubt will suit your needs and beliefs far more closely. ..
Another component to a Hindu temple that might interest you is the quiet corners where meditation is easier than anywhere else in life.
What you missed was a smiley. That would have made it clear. Like this - ;)
Very true.
 
Last edited:

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I think you and I are two of them. :)
Most of the folks that go to yoga classes, most of the folks who go for some sort of universalism without dogma (no room for that BS in hard line Abrahamics) most people who've rejected western views, but have yet to encounter eastern views.

Like I said ... tons!
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I think mostly out of respect for bhakti yogis. I don't want to impose.

Depends on the type of 'jnana' yogis. Many would still go to temple, while others would say "Hogwash, I'm beyond that!"

"If you want to learn to remember God, then first learn to forget yourself a little." - my Guru

But then in Saiva Siddhanta (I realise you're a Vedantin) there is no such thing as jnana yoga. Jnana is a stage (state of mind) whereby the soul arrives at after the other duties of charya, kriya, and yoga are perfected. It's a different perspective, in that we focus on the path itself, rather than the goal.

In India, and here, I've seen people walk in to a temple, find a quiet place to sit, sit for half an hour in meditation, then get up and leave. Not a lot of external bhaki in that, but a recognition that a temple is conducive to it.

Sri Ramana Maharshi, before he retired to the hillside ashram, spent time in a sanctum of Arunaleswara temple down below the hill. My own Guru's Guru's Guru's Guru, immersed in jnana, constantly spouting Vedantic simple truths, lived in the ther hut at the most famous Murugan temple in Sri Lanka.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Most of the folks that go to yoga classes, most of the folks who go for some sort of universalism without dogma (no room for that BS in hard line Abrahamics) most people who've rejected western views, but have yet to encounter eastern views.

Like I said ... tons!

I discount the Yoga Moms, though. And of course my pet peeve... the New Agers and their "shockra balancing" and "kundalini releasing". :rolleyes:

Seriously, I shouldn't be as dismissive of them as I am... they could very well be those old eastern souls who've gotten sidetracked through incarnations and are trying to pick up the breadcrumbs trail in this life. Curse you for being so level-headed! :D
 
Top